Drug-Athon
by Tyro Writer
Summary: Ren's prayers to leave the orphanage have finally been answered when he is recruited for CHERUB. He soon lives the life of a CHERUB agent, but is quickly chosen for a last minute mission after a CHERUB agent had been injured. Using all the skills he has learnt, Ren must infiltrate social organization called DDUG, a drug company, and stop them before they drug everyone in Texas...
1. Chapter 1

**This is the first ever CHERUB fanfic I've written, and the second fanfic I've written so far, so please cut me some slack, try to use some of your free time to read it, and review! Disclaimer: I do not own CHERUB, Robert Muchamore does. This goes out to Robert Kilgore "Bobby" Muchamore!**

**1. A new life**

Ren lay down on the soft grass, his eyes fixed on the orphanage. He didn't like it one bit. The way it smelt was one reason, the way the manager was greedy with money was another, but the only reason he hated it for was the whole orphanage overall. His parents had dumped him at the dirty steps of the orphanage, before the dashed into the darkness of the rain, plenty of secrets crammed into their heads.

His short dark hair flung itself back into the wind, his shiny blue eyes shimmering in the sunlight. Kilgore Aston, a kid that had tried to make him his friend, was slowly making his way towards Ren, a small dark notebook resting in his hands.

"H-Hey..." Kilgore said as he sat beside Ren and pulled a few leaves out of the ground. He squeezed them in his fist before he let them blow away, and way the wind was taking them. "Do you mind if I can sit here?"

Ren quickly ignored his question and continued on with his daily doings. He took a quick glance at Kilgore, who was busy playing with his hair, which he did most of the time, before he looked back at the orphanage. Kilgore wore school attire: A white and blue striped shirt, a pair of navy blue trousers, and shiny black school shoes.

"I saw you sitting here all by yourself... So I thought you might need a snack" Kilgore continued as he pulled out a gigantic lunchbox, filled with all sorts of chocolate bars, and a few packets of Lays and Simba crisps. "There's a few Mars Bars, some Kit-Kat's, two and a half Snickers Bars, and some crisps if you like some-"

"Why are you here?" Ren interrupted as he got to his feet and pulled out a tiny piece of chewing gum, which he instantly threw into his mouth. His ragged hood jacket blew in the wind, his old weary jeans tripping all over his dirty blue trainers, which seemed to be the only item of clothing which apparently looked 'rich boy' worthy. He quickly stuck a toothpick into his mouth before he continued."Shouldn't you be playing stuck in the mud with the 'less-fortunate'?"

"I would..." he said as he stood up as well, before he quickly jumped into a fighting stance, "But I wanted to make sure you can still keep that bad boy act in a fight..." As soon as he said this Kilgore quickly drove a powerful kick aimed at Ren head, but Ren quickly sidestepped. Kilgore tried again, this time driving a powerful punch into Ren's face, but Ren grabbed his arm, before he pushed him backwards with such force that Kilgore lost his balance. Before Kilgore could even get up and attack again, Ren had vanished into parts unknown.

Kilgore quickly got up, and searched the whole area. After realizing Ren was nowhere to be seen he swore under his breath. "How am I meant to beat this guy if I don't even know where he is?" he said, before he took another look around. "Well, it looks like hard luck, I guess... But it has to be _tonight_..."

After that, Kilgore continued his search, looking for where his 'friend' might be. It was only when it was dark that he found him sitting on his bed in 'their' room. Kilgore's shirt had been dirtied after long hours of running, his trousers had began to lose their colour, turning from navy blue to dark brown, and his shoes had lost their shine.

"You've been her all this time?" Kilgore said, finally getting somewhere. "You know Mr. McKinney is looking everywhere for you! You didn't even bother to do your chores at the farm, meaning I had to do all of your work, including mine! You owe me big time!"

"Who cares?" Ren said as he pulled his book away from his face. He quickly jumped off the bed now facing the windows. "It's almost dinner time, and Kinney whips me at least twice a day. And the bruises are normal. Eventually, it's just a daily thing, and even though the beatings get harder and harder, it's like you don't even feel it! Streetwise tough, that's what they're called!"

"Look, Ok!" Kilgore said as he slowly began to walk towards Ren. "Maybe I hadn't grown up in some crap arse orphanage like you did. And maybe I'm not a streetwise tough, but if you think you can just dump me with all your crap chores, you're gonna regret making a fool of Kilgore Tramp!"

"Huh... Kilgore... _Kilgore_... I've heard that name before, haven't I?" Ren laughed as he turned his head, now facing Kilgore. He slowly turned around, before walking towards Kilgore. "Yes I have! Now I remember... Newspaper, at least two months ago. A drug dealer, saying he'd betrayed by a young boy named Kilgore McCone... Another story a while back... a Reporter secretly working for Dark Sun... saying he had a companion... By the name, _Kilgore_ Steward..."

"That's just a coincidence..." Kilgore said, afraid, his back now slightly touching the door.

"All these men gave the same description of the boy..." Ren said, now slowly clenching his fist. "Same short dark hair, same blue eyes, same height... same attitude. You're not who you say you are, are you?"

Ren slowly brought his fist in the air, and charged it towards Kilgore. But in an instant, Kilgore had grabbed Ren's fist in mid air. Re tried to break free, but Kilgore had seemed to gain strength since their last encounter.

"What the-?" Ren said, struggling to break free, "How are you doing this? Who are you? What do you want with me?"

"Let's just say... It's none of your business... For now!" As soon as Kilgore said this, he drove a powerful kick into Ren's stomach, sending him crashing into the closet across the room. Ren tried to stand up, but Kilgore quickly put him into a double arm lock.

"Argh! Let me go, you arsehole!" Ren said as he tried to break free, again, still failing, as Kilgore seemed to be stronger.

"Now, now... This won't take a minute" Kilgore said as he pulled out a syringe from his pocket, and jabbed a syringe into his back. Ren cried in pain, but it only took him a few seconds to realize that he had been tranquilized, and his vision slowly began to blur. He watched as Kilgore walked to the door and pulled out a cell phone from his pocket.

"John. It's me, Kilgore.." Kilgore spoke into the phone, "Mission success. Target neutralized".

Those were the last words Ren heard before he zoned out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Acclaimer: The good news is that I own the characters(most of them), and the plot, including the dangerous drug dealing organization DDUG. Disclaimer: There might be a few characters in this chapter that might be Robert Muchamore originals...**

**2. Starting off...**

Ren woke up to the sound of a loud siren. He quickly got to his feet, and looked around. He was in a different room, painted dark grey and white, with a closet at the corner of the room, and a desk just at the side of his bed. His stuff were packed up and a blue and white suitcase, and he really needed to change, only realizing that he was in his boxers, but the only clothes that caught his eye were the clothes hanging from the chair next to his desk.

There was a orange t-shirt, which had a logo of an armed cherub sitting on the globe, and underneath, in big letters, read CHERUB. Beside the t-shirt, was a pair of combat trousers, grass camouflaged, and a pair of shiny black combat boots. He could hear noisy footsteps running through the corridor, and he didn't want to be late, so he quickly put on the orange t-shirt, the combat trousers, but wore his trainers instead. He quickly rushed to the door, but it had quickly swung open, hitting him straight in the head, knocking him over.

He quickly recognized the face in an instant.

"Hey, there you are!" Kilgore said as he appeared at the doorstep. "Zara told me you might be in here so I thought you might-"

"Kilgore!" Ren said as he got to his feet and charged at Kilgore, but Kilgore was much more quick, agile and stronger, and easily sidestepped the attack, and tripped Ren onto the ground with incredible force. Before Ren could even get up, Kilgore had put Ren into a hammerlock, slowly bringing his arm closer to his shoulder blade.

"Whoa! Chillax, dude! I was only trying to help" Kilgore said as he tightened his grip a bit, Ren crying in pain and anger. "But since you don't won't to cooperate, I can just leave you here until Zara comes looking for you..."

"Argh! Let me go!" Ren said, trying to break free from the hammerlock, but utterly failed. "Who's Zara? What's CHERUB? And what's this have to do with me?"

"I'm sure you have a million questions to ask, but right now, I think it's best for you to calm down..." Kilgore said, more calmly.

"Calm down. Calm down!" Ren said, this time, turning his head so that he could see Kilgore's face. "You attacked me at the orphanage, jabbed a syringe into my back, you're pinning me to the ground, and you expect me to _calm down_?!"

"Well, yeah. Pretty much" Kilgore said as he tightened the grip on his lock. This time, Ren screamed so loud that the corridor echoed with his anger. And that same echo brought a figure at the entrance of Ren's room.

"Kilgore Chameleon! If I hadn't given you a second chance you would've been out of CHERUB immediately" Zara said, her voice almost knocking Kilgore off balance, leaving time for Ren to break free of the lock. "Now look at you, bullying a young red shirt like him! This is your first war-"

But Zara was stopped in midsentence as Ren charged at Kilgore, his fist aimed at his head, but Zara, being an ex-experienced CHERUB agent, quickly knocked him down, landing a few centimetres away from Kilgore.

"Chameleon! Get out of this room and get back to Mr. Speaks immediately!" she boomed. In a few seconds, Kilgore was out of the room and dashing through the corridors. She took a step back, and turned around before she continued. "Mr. Eckstein, follow me..."

Ren quickly cursed himself for losing an easy battle, before he got up and followed Zara. They walked past a few corridors, before they stopped at a brown, shiny door. Zara walked in first, then Ren.

The room was quite big, with a gigantic desk at the end, some sofa's in the corners, with some newly installed windows in the sides... And a girl? The first thing that caught Ren's eyes. Her long dark hair was flowing in the wind, her shiny blue eyes gleaming in the sunlight, her face as beautiful as an apple. Ren couldn't take his eyes off her. He tried to resist looking at her, but it was like his eyes were frozen.

"Sorry for keeping you here long, Ms. Mallow" Zara said as she grabbed a small book from her desk and walked out of her office. "Mind if we step outside?"

The girl nodded, before he followed Zara out of her office. Ren, dazed by the girl's beauty, forgot the route the two women had taken, and it took a few minutes for him to find them. They were slowly walking towards a strangely shaped building, which by the looks of Ren, looked like one of those spooky Hospitals he had always seen in movies.

By the time Ren had caught up to them, Zara was talking to a small young boy dressed in karate attire.

"Mr. Eckstein, Ms. Mallow, meet Mr. Stallone, or Maxx, your first test..." Zara said as she closed the door behind them. Ren being excited that he was going to fight someone who was younger than him, started to dash towards the kid, but Zara quickly stopped him before he could land a powerful punch into the Maxx's face.

"Ren... before you can do any fighting" Zara said as she pulled the book away from her face. "I need to talk to you. Walk with me".

Ren and Zara walked a few metres away from the dojo, to a gigantic athletic track. Ren had never seen something so intensely hardcore in his life, and he knew from that spot what he was meant to do. But before he could dash off again, Zara stopped him. She made him sit down before she began to talk.

"I'm Zara, as you already know... Chairwoman of CHERUB" Zara began to say. "I'm in charge of this whole facility, including the children that are here. It is my responsibility to make sure that all of you are well trained before taking on-"

"What's CHERUB?" Ren asked, interrupting Zara. "Why do you have to take care of the children here? Why am I here? And why do children have to be well trained?!"

"I was getting to that" Zara said, irritated. "But first, I'll start with you. You have been recruited by Kilgore, who played a homeless orphanage boy. He thought you would be a good addition to CHERUB. But don't worry, you don't have to join if you don't want to. I'm giving you a choice..."

Ren thought for a few seconds, before he said his final two words. "I'm in".

"Great, let's get back to the dojo and see how Ms. Mallow is doing..."

By the time Zara and Ren had reached the dojo, they had found Maxx jumping around in excitement, and the girl lying onto the ground, tired and exhausted.

"Even a kid could take you out?" Ren laughed as he stepped onto the mat.

"If you think you're so tough..." the girl said as she angrily pulled herself off the mat and slipped her feet into her shoes. "Why don't you take him out?"

"The rules are: When I say go" Zara began to say as she stepped onto the mat. "The battle starts, and whoever came make the other submit three times, wins! Go!"

Ren, being unprepared for the 'go' took a powerful punch to the stomach, and landed hard onto the ground. He was just about to get up, when the Maxx put him into a quick hammerlock, threatening to break his arms if he didn't submit. Ren tried as much to hold the pain in, but in the end, it was too much.

"I submit!" Ren shouted in pain. Maxx quickly let Ren go, and got a few metres away from him. Ren got himself up, and shot an angry glance at Maxx, before Zara said 'go'.

Ren charged first this time, with his fist aimed at Maxx's head, but Maxx, quickly sidestepped, and tripped Ren before he could try and attack again. Maxx quickly dropped to the ground and pressed his knee onto Ren's hamstring, and pulled his head backwards. Ren groaning in pain, finally said, "I submit!"

The girl quickly got onto the ground, and made a funny impression of Ren groaning in pain, saying "I submit!" all over again.

"Ha-ha-ha... Very funny" Ren said sarcastically as he got to his feet and faced Maxx.

"Go!" Zara shouted for the last time. Ren charged again, trying to kick Maxx in the stomach, but Maxx sidestepped again. But this time, the sidestep was just what Ren wanted, and before Maxx could attack, Ren drove a powerful punch into Maxx's stomach. Maxx tumbled to the ground in pain, and Ren cheered in victory, but he had forgotten that Maxx hadn't submitted, but by then, it was too late. Maxx grabbed Ren shoulders, and drove his knee into Ren's back. Ren groaned in pain as he stumbled backwards, but Maxx then double kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying a few metres away from Maxx.

Ren tried to get back up, but his back was aching after Maxx had kneed him, and he knew he could take another one of Maxx's double kick, so he quickly submitted before Maxx had the time to charge towards him.

Zara slowly helped him up, and Ren only began to talk after they had exited the dojo.

"Oh my gosh! That was so intense" Ren said as he slightly limped along. "I think that kid's knee is going to leave a mark on my back!"

"That's what you get for trying to prove you could beat him up!" the girl said, making another impression of Ren groaning in pain.

"Well, at least I managed to land a punch!" Ren shouted as slightly shoved the girl.

"Who said I didn't!" the girl said as he shoved Ren with all the strength she had, knocking him backwards. "And that's for mocking me!"

Ren got back up, and rushed towards the group, who had just entered another strange bulding.

**Original Robert Muchamore Characters:**

**Zara Asker, Chairwoman of CHERUB**


	3. Chapter 3

**Third chapter. Speed writing, a skill that has come in handy since the day I started writing and figuring out my plots. Disclaimer: The next episode of the 'Do Not Owns' will be posted at the end of this chapter.**

**3. CHERUB's are tougher...**

Ren found himself in a hospital like facility, with a gigantic room just at the end, where Zara and the girl where. He quickly limped towards them, passing by a few patients who had either broken their leg or broken their arm.

"This is Dr. Kessler.." Zara said, introducing the man. "Dr. Kessler, this is..."

"Brittney" said the girl as she shook Dr. Kessler's hand.

"And Ren..." said Ren as he tried his best to stand up straight without his back hurting.

"He'll be taking a test of how your bodies function" Zara said as he sat down on a comfortable leather chair and pulled out her book."This won't take long."

But in fact, it was long. Longer than expected. Ren had been strapped on first, and was told to run for about 15 minutes. Being a slight junk food eater, Ren had already got tired after five minutes, and felt like puking. But Brittney, who had seemed to be more athletic than Ren had gone the whole fifteen minutes without even showing a sign of energy loss.

Next came the disgusting part. Dr. Kessler had to take a small sample of their hamstring to see how their muscles function, and Ren couldn't go two minutes without scratching the sore along the way. Ren had just about had enough of it by the time they had exited.

Ren yawned with relief. "I can't wait to get back onto my bed and take a nice relaxing nap.." Ren said as he followed Zara back towards Zara's office.

"Who said we were done?" Zara said as her hand touched the doorknob. "There's still one more test you have to go through..."

Like it was planned, as she swung the door open, there were two desks placed in different areas of the room. Each desk had a test paper, a pencil, a sharpener, and an eraser on them. Ren rushed to the desk nearest to the door, and Brittney walked slowly towards her desk.

As soon as Zara got to her desk, she said, "Begin..."

Ren rushed through the test, answering all the questions he knew, and leaving gaps on the questions he didn't know the answers to, while Brittney worked through all the questions, leaving no gap on any question. By the time Ren had reached the back of the paper, he went back to the beginning. He had struggled through most of them, but managed to finish some of the least complicated ones. He was left with two question, both Knowledge. One said, Which country has the most nuclear rocket?, and another was, Which country is the poorest in the world? Having not known about countries and the world, Ren found this difficult. He always thought about writing something down, but always stopped himself at the last minute. And the phrase at the bottom of the question kept distracting him. _This is tough, but CHERUB's are tougher_, the phrase said.

What does that even mean, Ren thought, the phrase circling through his head. It was only a few minutes after that he had figured out the answers to the questions, that he saw his test paper disappear off his desk and onto Zara's hand.

After Zara had collected up the test papers, she called Brittney and Ren to her desk.

"Not one last test..." Ren moaned as he got there.

"To be a qualified CHERUB agent, it is crucial that you change your name" Zara said as she folded her arms. "But you can keep your first name and change your second name..."

Ren and Brittney thought for a long time, neither of them choosing a suitable surname, until a surname popped up into Brittney's head.

"Brittney... Montanez. Brittney Montanez" Brittney said with delight.

"Ms. Montanez, you are free to leave the room" Zara said. In a few seconds, Brittney had dashed out of Zara office, up into her room, leaving Ren alone with Zara. Zara had waited a few more minutes, before he finally said something.

"Choose a surname.." Zara said, irritated by how long Ren was taking. "I don't have all day..."

It took Ren a few more minutes to come up with a suitable surname."Herron. Ren Nate Herron! I've got it now."

"Finally" Zara said as she got to her feet. "I thought that was going to take forever. Ren, you are-"

But just before Zara could finish her sentence, Ren had dashed out of her office, and up a few stairs, before finally got to his room. Just as he had entered, he found Kilgore sitting on his bed. Ren was just about to charge at Kilgore, but the urge to kill him had vanished from his mind, like Kilgore had done him a favour. Ren just simply smiled at him.

"Chameleon, huh?" Ren said as he sat on his chair and leaned backwards, making the tip of the chair touch the wall.

"Hey.. I was only 7. Give me a break..." Kilgore said as he sat upright and faced Ren. "So what's your new name?"

"Herron. Ren Nate Herron."

"Herron..." a tall girl said as she opened the door. "That's the best you've got?"

"So what?" Ren answered bravely. "At least I managed to add a middle name!"

"Whatev!" the girl answered back said, now opening the door fully wide. She looked around Ren's room, before finding Kilgore reading on Ren's bed. "Yo, Kilgore. Lee, Bryan and Rose have organized a welcoming party for the new recruits! You coming?"

"I'm coming..." Ren said, jumping into the conversation.

"I didn't ask you... But if you come..." the tall girl said quickly as she began to walk away from the door. "Try not to make a fool out of yourself.."

"That's my queue, dude..." Kilgore said as he jumped off Ren's bed as walked towards the door. "Just remember to wear something not too..._'street-wise'_..."

Ren laughed to himself as he Kilgore closed the door behind him. After Kilgore had disappeared somewhere in his room, Ren took a nice cold shower, and put on some of his best clothes, which included a green hoody, a blue and white 'U Can't Stop Me' t-shirt, a pair of blue jeans, which had skull designs on the sides, and some nice sneakers he had found in his room earlier, he headed off to the party.

The party was a blast. It started off at the athletics track, but some of it was brought to the pool after a few red shirts jumped in, splashes of water spilling everywhere. There were a few cake fights, some people got a bit drunk, but overall, Ren thought it was the best party he had been to. There were a few retired cherub's who came over, like James, Lauren, Rat and Kyle, but there were others he never got to meet. James had briefly talked to him about his life at CHERUB, but he left out the naughty bits. He had passed on a hi and bye to Lauren and Rat just before they took off, but Kyle was busy talking to Kerry, so he didn't get a chance to talk to him.

After the party was done, Ren slumped onto his bed, exhausted. He had just gotten a slight headache, before Kilgore came in shouting, making it worse.

"Dude!" Ren shouted as he got to his feet and threw a pillow at him.

"Chillax, man..." Kilgore said after he had dodged the pillow. "It's the last day and I want to party till the sun comes up..."

"Wait a second..." Ren said, as he slumped back onto his bed. "Last day for what?"

"Zara didn't tell you, did she?" Kilgore said, finally calming down. "Didn't you hear? Tomorrow's the start of Basic Training!"

"Basic what?" Ren said as he sat upright on his bed.

"It's some 100 day course every CHERUB has to take before they can be qualified to do mission..."

"Basic Training? Missions? What is this place? Some kind of training camp?!"

"Kind of..." Kilgore said as pulled out a blue shirt out of his pocket and handed it to Ren. "You're going to need that for tomorrow..."

"It's a 100 day course, right?"

"Yep" Kilgore said quickly, before throwing a handful of crisps into his mouth.

"And you guys get to train before it, right?"

"Nope."

"So you're telling me that Basic Training is tomorrow and I haven't even had the time to get prepared?!"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Crap!"

"Don't get worried... You'll be fine..." Kilgore said as he began to walk away from the door. "As long as you don't get any serious injuries... Basic Training might be tough... but CHERUBs are tougher..."

**So, what did you think? What's going to happen to Ren in Basic Training? Will he succeed or fail? Only I know that answer... Review if you like.**

**Characters I do not own:**

**Zara Asker, Chairwoman of CHERUB**

**James Adams, once a CHERUB, and an irresistible heartbreaker**

**Kyle Blueman, James' friend, apparently 'gay', was expelled from CHERUB**

**Lauren Adams, James' little sister, one of the youngest to earn a black shirt**

**Greg 'Rat' Rathbone, Lauren's boyfriend**

**Kerry Chang, James' girlfriend, excellent butt kicker for her height**


	4. Chapter 4

**Basic Training awaits... What will happen to the orange shirts, now formally blue? What will happen to Ren? Who will be injured first? Will there be any drama going on? Only this chapter tells the story...**

**4. Basic Training awaits...**

Ren decided he was going to do a few push ups, pull ups and jogging on the spot, but he was still tired by the time he woke up, and did a few extra to wake himself up. He then took a refreshing cold shower, before dressing into his blue shirt, his combat trousers, and his combat boots. He had gone to wake up Kilgore, who wanted his fair share of a workout, before heading to the cafeteria.

It wasn't crowded, but it wasn't empty either. There were a few blues spread out across the cafeteria, sitting at different tables. There were also a few red shirts helping themselves to a few slices of the chocolate cake at the buffet. But the table that caught his eye was the one in the middle of the room, and a familiar face smashing a slice of toast into pieces, before throwing a few small pieces into her mouth. Ren made his way to the table, but was stopped just halfway there.

"If you think you're going to be sitting on this table just because Kilgore's your mate" the girl said as he finished chewing the last piece of her toast. "You're sorely mistaken."

"Ease up Eryn.." Kilgore said from behind as he threw his tray down onto the table. There were a few pieces of toast, about a plate half filled with sausages and eggs, and a bowl of cereal. "He's just a newbie. It's better he sticks with us".

"Whatever" Eryn grunted as she stood up and sat at a table a few metres away. It was painted bronze, with a red rose design in the middle, and arrow-pierced hearts in the corners. There were a few girls sitting on the table, all Grey shirts, but they didn't seem to mind her, although they kind of squished up to the corner when Eryn dropped onto their gossip.

"So, 'Nate'..."Kilgore said to Ren as he threw his body onto the table, pulling out a sausage from his plate and shoving it into his mouth, little bits and pieces falling out. "You ready for Basic?"

"To be honest, I don't think I'm going to make it" Ren scratched his head in embarrassment as he and Kilgore walked towards the buffet. Ren pulled out a slice of cake and a cup of coffee before the duo headed back to the table.

They found Brittney sitting on the table, and a few people, wearing grey shirts, which were probably Kilgore's friends. There was Kaylee, commonly known as Lee, Bryan, a dark haired, muscular guy, and Tammi, commonly known as Rose, for some odd reasons people shouldn't know about. They passed on a few hi's, caught up on gossip, and said some good lucks, before Ren and Kilgore, along with Brittney, Kim and Tory, who calls himself Ty(two of Brittney's friends) managed to get out of the cafeteria alive. They made their way to the Basic Training Compound, with pride hanging on their shoulders and fear rushing through their minds.

They all had different opinions about what Basic Training was like, from other people's experiences, but as they entered the Basic Training Compound, there were surprised to see a very large helicopter, painted to look like an army helicopter, sitting in the middle of the Compound, waiting for them.

A skinny looking man, Boris by name, the new training instructor, was standing beside the helicopter, polishing his combat boots, while staring every blue shirt in the eye, making sure he didn't miss anyone. There were others waiting just beside the helicopter, wide eyed with amazement, and fear shivering through their spines as they thought of the dangerous places they were going to visit, along with the dangerous animals they were going to encounter. Boris was said to be from North Africa, but his tough Russian accent made people think otherwise.

"Alright, maggots!"Boris boomed as he got to his feet and inspected the line of blue shirts in front of him. The scar across his face was the only think covered by darkness, although it being a hot summer day. "Listen up! I don't care who passes or who fails! This is my territory, and in my territory, you do exactly as I say! No compromises! Understood?"

"Sir, yes Sir!" the blue shirts shouted back.

"I can't here you, puny rags!" Boris shouted back.

"Sir, yes Sir!" the blue shirts replied louder, this time adding in a touch of boldness.

Boris walked past the blue shirts, counting everyone down, before stopping right in front of Ren and Kilgore.

"You must be the puny rags Asker was telling me about!" Boris boomed, cold heartless air spewing out of his mouth, drops of angriness landing on their faces. Kilgore was just about to say something, but Boris interrupted him. "I already know you, meat bag! Kilgore, the filthy scum, is what they should be calling ya! And you must be Heron! Don't get your hopes up, 'cause you still ain't passing this course! I'll make you wish you weren't a CHERUB..."

Ren managed a quick, weak smile, before Boris moved on. Nobody knew Boris' surname, because he always filled out his name as Boris, in scruffy, bold letters. Boris moved on, before stopping at the last person, who just so happened to be Lee.

"Where's that brat of yours, Lee?"Boris spat out in anger, his boot sinking deeper into the muddy ground. "If he thinks he's gonna bunk Basic Training, he's sorely mistaken-"

"I'm here, I'm here" shouted a voice from behind. A small teen, with dark hair, dashed his way through the gates of the compound, but as he was getting near to the line, he tripped on a small pebble, which sent him flying towards a mud pit.

"Well, well, well.." Boris laughed to himself as he walked over to the teen. "Look who decided to show up. So nice of you to drop in, Salamander".

"The name's Dante..." Dante said quietly to himself as he picked himself off the mud and walked over to the line, but Boris grabbed his arm before he could make it to the line, and pulled him back into the mud pit.

"What did you say, Salamander?!" Boris said, clenching his fists in anger, veins popping out of his small muscles.

"Nothin-" Dante said quietly, but Boris grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer to him before he could continue.

"If I ever hear you or even see you talking trash about me!" Boris said as he let go of Dante's shirt and shoved him backwards. "You'll regret seeing the bad side of me! Understand?"

"Yes Sir..." Dante said miserably as he got himself onto the line, pride and strength blowing itself out of his body.

"Alright maggots! Sorry for the 'interruption', but let's get back to business!" Boris said as he pulled out a few gigantic rucksacks from inside the helicopter. "These are your survival backpacks. You'll keep these with you along the journey. Anyone who manages to lose these will be officially thrown out of Basic Training, and will have to start again! Also, there's been a slight change of plan this time. Instead of starting Basic Training here, we'll be starting it from the mouth of the Amazon River!"

There were a few moans here and there, but Boris just ignored them and continued on.

"Get moving! We haven't got all day!"

Every blue shirt dashed out of the line, and jumped into the helicopter, making sure they got the best seat possible. They strapped on their seatbelts, and gave a thumbs-up to Boris before he ordered the pilot, an ex-agent who was now a pilot, to start the engine, and 'set sail' for the Amazon River.

It was only a few seconds later, that we heard a voice coming from a speaker inside the helicopter. It was Boris of course, but that wasn't the only thing that scared them. It was what he said after that. They'd been split into pairs, and some of them got put with people they hated. Fortunately, Ren got paired with Kilgore, so he had time to give him instructions and work out tactics before they started their 100-day course.

They were given a packed lunch, which was just a container filled with chicken and burnt potatoes, and it was only a few hours later, when everybody had just settled into a nice comfy spot, that they heard Boris' voice boom out of the speakers.

"Amazon River, ahoy!" Boris said, a hint of cheerfulness in his voice. "Get ready, and get set! 'Cause this is going to be a bumpy ride! Basic Training awaits, and I hope that none of you pass!" His last words were followed with a menacing laughter, rage burning in his heart.

It was only a few seconds later, when the blue shirts peered through the window, that they saw the dirty, disgusting looking mouth of the Amazon River, and none of them didn't seem thrilled by this. It was only their first day, yes, but like Boris said, it was going to be a bumpy ride...

**I hope you like this chapter. Read and review, as always, and don't give up on any inspiring fanfics that are sitting in the back of your minds, that are waiting to be written. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own CHERUB**

**Acclaimer: I own all the characters in this fanfic except:**

**Zara Asker, who is only mentioned by Boris once**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the long update... I totally felt like I had given up on fanfics and FanFiction. Well, I didn't totally give up on it. I just wasted my time playing games. Well, I'm back now... *Can't think of anything to write, so I'll just cut to the chapter...***

**5. It Begins... Will it end?**

The Amazon forest smelt nice in this time of day, the fresh morning air blowing your hair back, filling your nostrils with all different kinds of smells. But the sweet smells of the Amazon were soon blocked by a foul smell so bad it killed the leaves. In other words, Boris' boots. Each step at least killed a flower.

He gave each pair two rucksacks, which included 5 bottles of water, a map of the Amazon Forest marked with the checkpoints, a compass, a pocketknife, a torch, a container each filled with food, mosquito repellent, a net, and a tent. At least every blue-shirt double checked their rucksacks before slamming them onto their backs and began their Basic Training. Some waited for Boris to make some kind of speech, but they eventually gave up as they saw Boris make his way back to the helicopter. Only Ren and Kilgore were left.

They triple checked their rucksacks before they began their Basic Training, entering into unknown lands and waters, wondering where they were going to go next. The afternoon fell early in the Amazon forest, heating it up. Ren and Kilgore calmly made their way through the forest, with nothing but hesitation and trust on their side. They hadn't passed any other blue shirts along the way, but they weren't worried. Kilgore had the map to navigate, while Ren used the compass to tell where they were.

They had covered a lot of ground for the past few hours, but they could see that they were running out of time, and it won't be long before darkness fell through the forest, meaning they had to set up camp. They found a nice spot on a broken down tree, and caught a few mice for dinner, before they told each other some scary stories and got settled for bed.

Ren couldn't sleep that night, not because of the scary stories they had been telling, but because his mind always kept going back to the time he saw a man ripped into shreds by a crocodile. It was a few years back, when he was still a kid. He had just passed by the river when he saw a crocodile. He didn't even bother calling for help, and he watched as the man was ripped to shreds. The thought still haunted him.

He was sweating badly, and he didn't want to stay in the tent because he was freaking out, so he stepped out of the tent for some fresh air. His hand trembled with fear as he pulled his pocketknife out of his hand. He had just sat down on a log when he felt something tap his shoulder, but as Ren turned round, he was surprised to see Brittney holding up a torch, its bright light shining in his face.

She sat next to him on the log before she began to talk.

"Can't sleep huh?" she asked, like she already knew the answer. Ren just shrugged and went back to watching the leaves dancing in the wind.

"So..." Brittney said if for a long time before getting into the sentence. "First day, huh? Been pretty rough?"

"Not really, no" Ren said, so quiet so could barely hear the words. "You?"

"Same" Brittney said. Both said nothing for a while, and it wasn't long before Brittney disappeared into the darkness, back into her tent. He could hear the sound of mosquito repellent, and it wasn't long before he could see a ray of sunlight cracking through the trees.

Once Ren and Kilgore had finished setting up their tent, and made some cornflakes which they nicked from Boris' rucksack earlier on, they began their journey through the Amazon. This time, they met a few blue-shirts, but they were either sleeping or packing up, so they didn't have time to say proper hi's.

They had just walked a few metres when they heard quiet footsteps behind them, slowly creeping towards them, and it wasn't long before large green eyes filled the shadows, glowing bright with hate and hunger. They froze with fear as a large, gigantic crocodile jumped out of the shadows, licking its lips, ready to kill the people that were going to be its breakfast...

**Seems like a little chapter to me, not my best work, by my standards, but it doesn't matter. I finally found a way to end it gloriously, although we don't know if Ren and Kilgore will live or die. You'll just have to wait a long time for the next chapter... **


End file.
